Protector for boots and shoes



March 8, 1927.

N. w. URWIN raomc on FOR BOOTS AND snows Filed Aug. 21, 1924 Patented Mar. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NORMAN WALTON 'URWIN, OF ANNFIELD PLAIN, ENGLAND.

PROTECTOR FOR BOOTS. AND SHOES.

Application filed August 21, 1924, Serial No. 733,393, and in Great Britain January 18, 1924.

This invention relates to that kind of protector for boots or shoes in which the nails or screws used in securing said protector in position are not exposed to wear and tear till the tread portion of the protector and the top lift of the heel are worn down to the level of the heads of said nails or screws, thus preventing said protector from becoming loose or detached, said means being constituted by a number of lugs forming part of a narrow bead or ledge and disposed below the tread surface thereof in such a way that said tread surface has to be worn down before the heads of the nails or screws, which pass through holes in said lugs, are exposed to wear, the tread surface being either plain or roughened and the securing lugs covered by the top lift of the heel or by a suitable filling piece.

It is also known that the hidden securing members of protectors of the above nature have been provided with spikes adapted to be driven into the top lift or filling piece of the protector.

The present invention comprises protectors for footwear including a rim having inwardly projecting securing lugs disposed below the tread surface whereby the fastening means are hidden under the top lift or the sole, as the case may be, characterized by the method of invisibly securing the top lift, or sole, in position, which method consists in forming the securing lugs with upstanding spikes or projections.

The foregoing arrangement is especially suitable for the construction of U-shaped heel protectors, as well as half protectors, left and right, and also toe and side pro tectors.

In order that the said invention may be the more readily understood, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, obverse and reverse views of a light U-shaped heel protector.

Figures 3 and 4 are similar views illustrative of a heavy U-shaped heel protector.

Figure 5 is a sectional view illustrative of the securing lugs with upstanding spikes or projections.

Figures 6 and 7 are, respectively, obverse and reverse views of a light toe protector.

Figures 8 and 9 are similar views of a heavy toe protector.

Figure 10 is a view illustrative of a side protector for the soles of boots and shoes.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

In carrying out the invent-ion and referring first to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, 1 represents the vertical arm of the protector provided with a light or narrow tread surface 2, the same, if desired, being ribbed, serrated or otherwise roughened, whilst 3 represents the horizontal arm which constitutes a flange and is made very narrow, said arm or flange 3 being provided with inwardly extending lugs 4 each provided with a nail or screw hole or aperture 5.

For a heavy U-shaped protector, Figures 3 and 4, the arrangement is similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2 with the exception that the vertical arm 1 is made much broader, the wearing or tread surface 2 being preferably, but not necessarily so, ribbed, serrated, or otherwise roughened.

In use, the protector is placed with its horizontal arm 8 on the top of the heel and is secured thereto by nails, that is to say, the ordinary iron rivets of three-quarter size, or screws driven in through the holes 5 in the lugs 4, so that the heads of said nails or screws are flush with the tops of the lugs. The top lift of the heel, which lift may be of rubber or of leather, is then placed in the open space formed by the protector, and over the arm or flange 3, thus covering the heads of the nails or screws, and then said top lift is nailed or otherwise fastened down, and thus said heads do not become exposed to wear till the vertical arm 1 of the protector, andwith it the top lift of the heel, are worn down to the same thickness as the horizontal arm or flange 3.

To further secure the protector against becoming loose, each inwardly extending lug 4: is provided with one or more upstanding projections or spikes 6, adapted, when the top lift of the heel is fastened down, to be driven into said top lift.

Toe protectors, a lightone being shown in Figures 6 and 7 and a heavy one in Figures 8 and 9, are similar one with the other, that is to say, they are of inverted L-shape with horizontal arm or flange 3 provided with inwardly pointing lugs 4 with nail or screw holes or apertures 5 therein, the tread surface 2 of the vertical arm 1 being made broad or narrow according to whether said protector is for a heavy or a light boot or shoe, said protector being placed with its arm or flange 8 on the insole and nailed or screwed. thereto, and the said arm or flange 8 covered by the toe portion of the outer sole which is then nailed down.

In Figure 10 is shown a side protector for the sole of a boot or shoe, said protector being similar to a toe protector and curved to suit the curvature of the sole, said protector being secured in position in similar manner obtaining with reference to the toe protectors.

Protectors as above set forth may. be constituted by castings or stampings, or they may be fashioned from straight pieces of metal, by any suitable means, and then bent or curved to the required curvature.

I claim A protector for footwear comprising rib having an inwardly projecting flange arranged flush with its inner face and provided with apertured securing lugs lying in the same plane as said flange and adapted to receive fastening elements, and integrally formed outstanding spikes on said lugs adapted to penetrate a top lift when in serted in the protector to hold the same in operative relation.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature hereto this 30th day of July, 192%.

NORMAN VALTON URWVIN. 

